The Kerala government said on Wednesday that it will pass an ordinance via which the governor would no longer hold the position of chancellor of state universities in the midst of the ongoing dispute between the administration and the governor. The chancellor will instead be an academic. A source in the Chief Minister’s Office claimed that the cabinet decided to issue the ordinance. R Bindu, the minister of higher education for Kerala, has acknowledged the move.
However, Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, with whom the government is at odds over a number of issues, including how the universities operate, would have to sign the law.
Minister R Bindu said she hopes that the Governor would sign the ordinance, once the government brings it, according to his constitutional duties.
According to reports, the ordinance will be taken up for discussion at the Cabinet meeting today.
Arif Mohammad Khan and the government recently came to blows over how the universities operate, with the Governor calling for the vice chancellors of nine state colleges to resign. After the Supreme Court ruled that the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University in Thiruvananthapuram was “illegal,” the Governor demanded the resignation of the VCs.
In light of the Supreme Court’s decision involving the vice chancellor of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, the governor addressed notices to these vice chancellors asking them to explain why their appointments should not be deemed void ab initio. Vice-chancellors filed a court motion opposing the notification. On Tuesday, the Kerala High Court ordered the Governor to hold off on making any decisions regarding the showcase notice until the court had ruled on the writ petitions submitted by the VCs in opposition to the notice.